Dean Hilpipre, 61, admitted to molesting his seven-year-old granddaughter but he may not have to serve a single day in prison

A 61-year-old man who admitted to molesting his seven-year-old granddaughter may not have to serve a single day in prison for the crime.

Dean Hilpipre of Alden, Iowa, was arrested in August, and charged with two counts of second-degree sex abuse of a child younger than 12. Combined, the two charges carried a penalty of up to 50 years in prison.

His arrest came nine months after the victim, his paternal granddaughter, told her older sister about the abuse, who in turn reported him to a school counselor.

In an interview shortly after, the victim told investigators that her grandfather forced her into inappropriate touching and oral sex. The abuse happened 'over and over' in his bedroom with the door locked or in a bathroom or in the woods.

In December, Hilpipre struck a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser charge of lascivious acts with a child, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the two other charges and will recommend that Hilpipre's prison sentence be suspended and that he only serve probation.

The final say, however, will be up to Judge James McGlynn when he officially sentences Hilpipre on February 23.

The fact that Hilpipre may escape prison time has the victim's mother and maternal grandmother outraged.

'What's five years probation? After five years the no contact order's done, then what's he going to do again? Is he gonna pick her up again and take her into the woods again and she may not come out? What justice is that? What safety is that for the remainder of her life?' the victim's mother, 34-year-old Kasey Hilpipre, told WHO-TV.

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The victim's mother, Kasey Hilpipre (pictured), is asking members of the public to attend her former father-in-law's sentencing later this month to protest his plea deal

Kasey's mother, Deborah Yanna, was just as surprised to hear the details of the plea deal in December.

'I was just stunned,' Yanna told the Des Moines Register. 'At his plea-agreement hearing, I said, "Why don't you just throw in a spa day?"'

Dean Hilpipre is her ex-husband Dale's father. She continues to share custody of her four kids with her ex, with her daughter spending the week with her father, living in the same small town without a police department where her abuser continues to live free on bail.

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In an interview with the Des Moines Register, the victim cried as she expressed concern for the other little girls in Alden, and said she wanted to see her grandfather behind bars.

Kasey and her mother say the years of abuse have had a profound impact on the victim, who's too scared to leave the front yard.

They are now asking members of the public to attend Hilpipre's sentencing later this month, in hopes of convincing the judge not to accept the plea terms.

'This little girl has a heart and she has a soul and she has a little mind, and this disgusting human debris has broken her,' said Yanna. 'He won the Iowa Lottery. He`s celebrating. He thinks he`s terrific...Where`s her justice? Where`s her celebration? The rest of her life she will always remember...'

Yanna is referring to the fact that Hilpipre won $100,000 playing a Mega Crossword game last month.

Hilpipre told the Iowa Lottery that he plans to use the money to pay for a new home.

Last month, Hilpipre won $100,000 playing an Iowa lottery game. He said he planned to use the money to buy a new house

When he was first interviewed about the allegations in December 2016, Hilpipre denied the claims and blamed the victim's older sister for turning him in.

In another interview a year later, Hilpipre changed his tune slightly, not denying the allegations but also saying he doesn't remember them either.

'If I did it, I deserve everything I get,' he said.

In order to take the plea deal, he had to admit to the crimes in court.

Part of the reason why prosecutors are suggesting a suspended prison sentence is the fact that Hilpipre has no criminal history.

A state-approved psychologist, Tracy Thomas, conducted a psychosexual evaluation of Hilpipre and found that he 'is in the lowest 1.3 percentile of likely recidivism'.

'He received the lowest score possible, a minus 3, which makes him a "very low risk"; his likelihood of future offending is .9 percent over five years,' the documents said.

While child sex crimes offenders are sentenced to prison time in 98 per cent of federal cases, in Iowa, offenders are much more likely to only get probation.

Last fiscal year, 37 people were convicted of lascivious acts with a child in the state, and probation was ordered in 21 cases - or 51 per cent.

Hilpipre has had a pretty stable life, only recently retiring from ILC Resources, an agriculture business, after working there for more than 40 years.

Hilpipre's sentencing takes place February 23 at 10am at the Hardin County Courthouse in Eldora, Iowa.